Wednesday, May 31, 2006

This letter, published on 30 May 2006 in www.charleston.net, highlights the benefits to society of ending the war on drugs and instead regulating and controlling currently illicit substances. Criminals would be put of the drug trade business as the price would be kept down, thereby excluding them from currently profitable trades. Problem users would be treated for their health problems rather than criminalized and law enforcement officers could focus on reducing crimes where "people are in real trouble". The letter makes reform seem a no-brainer.http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=90512&section=letters

Monday, May 29, 2006

This article from the St Louis Post from the 29 May 2006(http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/0F6D92DC6CAC90528625717B001DC948?OpenDocument) decries the idea of legalizing drugs. The authors, Daniel Duncan and Edward Tasch, believe that the focus on controlling supply has been flawed and that instead controlling demand would help to drive down drug use. They do not think drugs should be legal since alcohol, a legal drug, is "by far a bigger problem than any other drug". The authors do not believe that gangs which subsist on drug trafficking revenues would cease to be a problem if drugs were legalized. They also don't believe that problem drug users would cease to commit crime to fund their habits if drugs were legalized. The authors' stances suggest that they have not considered a legal framework in which problem users could be prescribed drugs for free and in which drugs could otherwise be sold through a controlled, criminal-free, health-conscious environment.

An article from the Times Online on the 29 May 2006 by Rachel Campbell-Johnston examines the advantages of consumption rooms where drug users may get free needles and medical advice. She suggests these rooms should provide free drugs as well since this would likely reduce the attractiveness of trying the forbidden and would precipitate the end of addiction or "force the endgame" on the user. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20911-2201188.html

Sunday, May 28, 2006

According to this article, published on 28 May 2006 in www.dailytimes.com.pk, the upper house of the Afghan parliament has decided that the activities of an international think-tank, the Senlis Council, which has been pushing Afghanistan to legalize its opium crop, are against religious rulings and the constitution. Senlis claims drug eradication will never work and that opium production could be licensed and used to make pain-killers.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\05\28\story_28-5-2006_pg4_15

This article posted in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 25 May 2006 questions the attempt by Christian members of Congress to ban internet gambling. The author, Frank Catania, highlights the contradiction in exempting internet horse racing gambling from the ban and sees this as pandering to special interest groups. He reasons that strict regulation would be of greater assistance to underage or problem gamblers than an outright ban. He concludes that "History has taught us that prohibition does not work".http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/14660177.htm

This article by Geoff Matthews in the OttawaSUN.com on 25 May 2006 is against legalizing prostitution because "making prostitution legal would take all the fun out of it" and pursuing illegal prostitutes is more fun than in legal, "clinical" environments. He also doubts whether members of the public would support the movement of hookers from darkened alleys to places where they live and work. He objects to governments legalizing hitherto illegal activities and then hoping the problems will vanish which is why he thinks "it's wrong to give crack addicts clean pipes and heroin addicts clean needles and safe injection sites". He thinks that this legalization is the thin edge of the wedge and fears governments may in the future legalize bank robbery. http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Matthews_Geoff/2006/05/25/1596519.html

Friday, May 26, 2006

An article in the Voice of San Diego published on the 25 May 2006 discusses the war on drugs in the light of recent attempts by Mexico not to criminalize small quantities of any type of illegal drug. U.S.A. pressure prevented Mexico's reforms. This article by Elie Shneour explores the waste in lives, resources and truthfulness that the "war on drugs" has created. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=euLTJbMUKvH&b=312470&ct=2503625

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph of 24 May 2006 the Conservative party has tentatively accepted proposals to allow heroin users special consumption rooms where they may legally inject themselves. The shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier hasn't ruled out recommendations from an independent group which said such rooms would improve the health of users and reduce the risk of overdose.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/24/ndrug24.xmlAlthough not mentioned in the above link the "independent group" is likely to be the "Independent Working Group" set up and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Commission and published on the 23 May 2006, as per the following link, http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/230506.asp

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